


In His Keeping

by DiverseMediums



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 22:17:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11299965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiverseMediums/pseuds/DiverseMediums
Summary: A wee fluff shot inspired by my own children. I hope you enjoy!





	In His Keeping

I padded up the stairs as quietly as I could with a pregnant belly and two mugs of tea. Jamie had offered to fetch them but I could tell he didn’t want to leave Bree’s side for a moment. I took the opportunity to have a moment alone to just breathe and collect my own wayward thoughts. 

Our daughter’s fever had hit 104.1 the day before and I had finally decided that we needed to take her to the hospital. IV fluids and plenty of rest earned Bree a discharge this morning. Jamie, almost sick with worry for her, had stood sentinel since the illness started three days ago. 

I nudged our bedroom door carefully open. Jamie sat on a stool by our large bed, watching Brianna sleep. The soft light of the lamp in the corner cast shadows on their faces and lit their hair with red and gold. I paused, the sight of my husband and daughter and the feel of our second child turning within me enough to take my breath away. In this moment, everything was as it should be. 

Jamie sighed, unfolding himself a little on the stool before noticing me. He smiled softly, standing as I moved closer and held out his mug. Pulling me in with his other arm, he kissed my temple and held me close as he looked down at Brianna again. 

“Why is it, do ye think?” he asked softly, tucking a strand of Bree’s copper hair behind her ear. 

“Hmm?” I whispered, too sleepy and content to formulate a better response. 

“Why do bairns like to sleep in their parents’ beds when they’re ill?”

“Oh,” I said, thinking. “I’ve never thought about it.”

“I remember my mam laying me down on this bed,” he said softly. “She tucked me up under the quilts and it was the first step toward healing.”

I rubbed his back, feeling the fading scars through his shirt. 

“I don’t remember ever doing that,” I replied, with a little remorse for my parents, gone too soon. I sniffed and cleared my throat. “Perhaps it’s the scent of the parent that’s soothing. A newborn infant can smell its mother across a room, you know. Parents feed and comfort and hold them. I wonder if the bedding and atmosphere of something wholly “Mama and Da” is a comfort, even after a child grows.“

Jamie made a soft Scottish noise in acknowledgement. 

“Aye. Like some scents remind ye of a specific time or place or feeling,” he said, sipping his tea thoughtfully. 

“Yes,” I said, resting my head against his shoulder as he held me to him. 

“Ye look done in, Sassenach,” he said after a little, brushing my hair away from my face. 

I smiled noncommittally and he chuckled lowly, kissing me between my brows. 

“To bed wi’ ye. Ye need yer rest.”

“What about you?” I asked, my thumbs stroking the dark circles under his eyes. He kissed my lips then, tender and thorough. 

“I’ll be along presently.”

I nodded, setting my empty tea cup down and carefully sliding under the covers next to Brianna. Jamie watched me settle in, mouth curved into a smile. I heard his whispered Gaelic prayers long after I closed my eyes; felt his presence in every fiber of my being. I gave myself over to sleep, safe in Jamie’s keeping. 


End file.
